Radiant bowl gas burner



Feb. 20, 1951 c. H. BUTZ 2,542,750

RADIANT BOWL GAS BURNER Filed March 9, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l ///& I

IN VEN TOR. if? E CHARLES b. 5072 A 7' TORNE. Y.

C. H. BUTZ RADIANT BOWL GAS BURNER Feb. 20, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledMarch 9, 1948 Z N R 5 W M m J w. T .w A m c Patented Feb. 20, 1951UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE v2,542,750 RADIANT BOWL GAS BURNER- CharlesH. Butz, Denver, .Colo. Application March 9, 1948, Serial No. 13,762

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a gas burner, and has for its principal objectthe provision of a highly efficient gas burner unit which can be quicklyand easily installed in present heating plants.

Another object of the invention is to provide a reflecting,flame-shaping wall or bowl for the burner which will concentrate theheat in the fire box areas where the greatest heat is desired and reducewastage of heat in the ash pit and other areas where the heat is notrequired.

A further object is to produce a gas burner which will form acontinuous, parabolic-shaped, bowl-like sheet of flame.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of theinvention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efiiciency.These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is hadto the accompanying drawing which forms apart hereof. merals refer tolike parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the improved burner, illustrating its positionin a fire box;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section therethrough, taken on the line 22,Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross-section, taken on the line 33, Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a similar cross-section, taken on the line 4-4, Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the contour of the surface of arefractory flame bowl employed in the improved burner.

In the drawings, the walls of a fire box of any heating plant areindicated at Ill. The improved burner comprises a cylindrical airchamber ll having a closed bottom and an open top. A secondary airintake thimble I2 is secured over an opening 2!] in the side of the airchamber H by means of suitable cap screws 45.

The air flow through the thimble i 2 is controlled by means of abutterfly damper l3 mounted on a horizontal damper shaft M terminatingin an operating arm I5 on the exterior of the thimble I2. An operatingrod [6 extends to the exterior of the heating plant and is rotatablymounted in an ear I! on the thimble i 2. The inner extremity of theoperating rod is bent to form a crank arm l8, from which a connectinglink It depends to the operating arm I5 so that the position of thedamper may be controlled from the exterior of the plant.

Like nu- 29 which supports a A second opening 21 is formed in theopposite side of the air chamber H, and a flexible annular plate 22 issecured over this opening by means of a clamping ring 23 and suitablescrews 24.

A primary mixing chamber 25 is clamped against the outside of theflexible plate 22 by means of suitable cap screws 26. The primarychamber 25 is hook-shaped and extends from a circular, relatively smallintake extremity 2? to an enlarged discharge extremity at the plate 22.

The intake extremity of the primary chamber 25 is flared outwardly andcarries an open yoke gas jet nozzle 28 in axial alignment with theflared extremity. A gas pipe 30 feeds gas to the jet nozzle 28.

A hollow fuel-receiving arm 3| is clamped against the opposite side ofthe annular plate 22 by means of the cap screws 26. The arm 3| supportsa hollow distributing head 32 which projects above the open extremity ofthe air chamber l I in spaced relation to the walls of the latter.

The distributing head is centered and held in spaced relation with thewall of the air chamber II by means of set screws 33 which are threadedthrouglrthe wall of the air chamber H into contact with the outer wallof the head 32. The flexible plate 22 allows free movement of the head32 for centering and adjusting purposes.

The distributing head 32 is formed with an annular fuel chamber 34surrounding a central air passage 35. A plurality of flame openings 36extend through the outer wall of the fuel chamber 34 around its entireupper periphery.

An air-spreading cap 3? is supported above and in close relation to thehead 32 upon suitable supporting pins 38. The cap 37 is preferablyformed with a fire clay top portion having a metal lining plate 39 onits bottom. The plate 39 is bulged upwardly over the air chamber so asto form an annular, wedge-shaped passage to direct a flat, disc-likelayer of secondary air outwardly around the entire head 32 above theflame openings 36 therein.

A horizontal supporting flange is formed integrally with the air chamberI! and extends outwardly around its top to support a refractory bowlconsisting of a plurality of fire clay segment blocks 40. The segmentblocks 48 are con toured so that, when assembled in a complete bowl,they will form a conical outer surface and an annular parabolic innersurface, which will be described more in detail in the followingdescription.

The blocks 40 are supported on the flange 4| by means of wire bracketmembers 42. Each bracket member consists of a single length of rod bentin a U shape, with its two extremities extending through receivingopenings in the flange 4|. The upper portion of the rod is hookeddownwardly to act as a spacing member to space the segment blocks 40 inproper uniform relation with the fire box walls It]. A cross bar 43connects the ends of each rod 42 and rests on the flange 4|. The spacebetween the fire box wall It) and the blocks 40 may be filled with fireclay 46 resting on a supporting screen 41.

The lower and inner edges of the blocks 40 are notched to fit againstthe upper edge of the air chamber l I so that the blocks will be heldspaced away from the head 32 to provide an annular air passage 44completely around the distributing head 32.

In operation, gas enters through the jet 28 and draws primary air intothe mixing chamber 25, where it is intimately mixed with the gas, due tothe swirling, hook-shaped contour of the chamber. This well-mixed fuelenters the annular fuel chamber 34 and discharges through the flameopenings 36 toward the inner wall of the segment brick bowl 40, where itforms a Sheet-like flame lining in the bowl.

The discharging, parabolically-shaped flame is enveloped within an outerlayer of air discharging through the annular air passage 44 and an innerlayer of air discharging between the cap 31 and the head 32, whichprovides sufficient oxygen for perfect combustion over the entire innersurface of the refractory bowl.

Observation of the flame shows a continuous flame layer over the entireinner surface of the bowl, concealing the latter at all points andhaving a bowl-like, parabolic contour, due to the shape of the bowl.

It is desired to call particular attention to the contour of the innersurface of the segment blocks 40.- This contour is diagrammaticallyillustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. If the surface of the bowl be cut on aradial line at any point, this surface will present a parabola having afocal point X and a directrix, as indicated by the line B-C. All of thedirectrix lines B--C lie in an imaginary cylinder, as indicated at B.The cylinder surround the head 32 and has a larger diameter than thehead so as to place the focal points X, which also lie in the imaginarycylinder, in the fiames discharging from the flame openings 36. Thecomplete bowl, therefore, is not a paraboloid, but its interior surfaceis parabolic about the annular focal point X, and any section cutthrough the inner wall on a radial line will present onehalf of aparabola, the other half being spaced therefrom across the diameter adistance equal to the diameter of the annular, cylindrical plane of thedirectrix lines B-C. Therefore, a given point in the flame will be atthe focus point of a line position of the parabola of the bowl surface.It might be termed a paraboloid having an annular focus.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described andillustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may bevaried, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired securedby Letters Patent is:

1. A gas burner comprising: a circular fuel distributing head havingflame openings around its periphery and a fire clay bowl concentricallysurrounding said head, the inner surface of said bowl being so contouredthat any section cut through said surface on any plane radial to theaxis of said head will present a parabolic curve having a focal pointbetween said curve and said head.

2. A gas burner comprising: a circular fuel distributing head havingflame openings around its periphery and a fire clay bowl concentricallysurrounding said head, the inner surface of said bowl being defined byan infinite number of parabolic curves lying in planes radial to theaxis of said head, the axes of said curve lying in the circumference ofa co-axial circle surrounding said head, and the infinite directrixlines of said infinite number of parabolic curves defining a cylinderwhich is co-axial with the axis of said head.

CHARLES H. BUTZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 364,101 Gill et al May 31, 18871,519,056 Risinger Dec. 9, 1924 1,558,976 Garabrant et a1. Oct. 27, 19251,945,934 Dollin et al Feb. 6, 1934 1,956,857 Cunningham May 1, 19342,215,079 Hess Sept. 17, 1940 2,375,119 Le Tourneau Mav 1. 1945

